Pagan Resurrection Myths and the Resurrection of Jesus: A Christian Perspective

Pagan Resurrection Myths and the Resurrection of Jesus, based on a postmodern critique of the dark side of the Enlightenment, argues effectively that the human imagination—and particularly the religious imagination—has been diminished by some of the fallacies of the previous 300 years of intellectual history and unjustified hostility toward religion. This is particularly true in regard to the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus. For many followers of Enlightenment values, the resurrection of Jesus is foolishness and “nothing but” another myth. This “nothing but” fallacy is shattered by the book’s thesis. McKenzie argues against the trivialization of Christian belief on the part of many extreme liberal Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic); it is notable because it is argumentative without belligerence, and sympathetic to different views without falling prey to the easy relativism so common among religious people today. The resurrection of Jesus was “forth-told” not only by the prophets. It is not the pagan myths that explain the resurrection of Jesus; the resurrection of Jesus validates the core of pagan myths, the resurrection archetype, and universal human experience of the resurrection theme. This interpretation, it is suggested, will help in the rehabilitation of the Christian imagination.